FEASTING ON THE FARM COAST

With its bounty of fresh-picked produce and just-caught seafood, the Farm Coast is a haven for food lovers, who can sample the region’s flavors at farm stands, markets, and restaurants. Here, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso shares some of her favorite refueling stops.

THE BACK EDDY

Westport, MA

With harbor views all around, this seafood mainstay could get by on location alone, but the cornand-clam chowder and chouriçostu ed clams point to a kitchen with real ambition. 508-636-6500; thebackeddy.com

COMMONS LUNCH

Little Compton, RI

Old-school classics such as meatloaf, western omelets, fried clams, and grapenut pudding draw a multigenerational crowd of happy diners. 401-635-4388

EVELYN’S DRIVE-IN

Tiverton, RI

Overlooking lovely Nanaquaket Pond, this waterside eatery (complete with boat parking out back) is the place to go for flu y fried clam cakes with a cup of Rhode Island–style clear-broth chowder. 401-624-3100; evelynsdrivein.com

FARM & COAST MARKET

South Dartmouth, MA

Serving next-level pastries, salads, and sandwiches, this stylish market and café is the kind of local hangout every town should have. For breakfast, don’t miss the smoked salmon sandwich. 774-992-7093; farmandcoastmarket.com

GRAY’S ICE CREAM

Tiverton, RI

Of all the ice creameries on the Farm Coast, Gray’s wins for its rich, custardy base and giant scoops. The go-to flavor is co ee—a natural choice in the state that invented co ee milk. 401-624-4500; graysicecream.com

LITTLE MOSS

South Dartmouth, MA

This chic boîte spins local produce and seafood into gorgeous small plates, pastas, and charcuterie boards. Come for a cocktail; stay for dinner. 508-994-1162; littlemoss.com

PROVENDER

Tiverton, RI

Here’s the spot to pick up picnic supplies for the beach. We recommend the Scarlet Letter— turkey, greens, tarragon mayo, and cranberry sauce—and the buttermilk cake, which is as moist as English pudding. 401-624-8084; provenderfinefoods.com

THE RED DORY

Tiverton, RI

Steve Johnson is the Farm Coast’s top chef, and his Mediterraneaninspired eatery boasts the best local produce, excellent pastas and ceviches, and sunset views of the Sakonnet River. 401-816-5001; reddoryrestaurant.com

REVOLUTION LOBSTER

Westport, MA

Right at the tip of Westport Point, this fish market and eatery does “sea-to-table” takeout (there are picnic tables outside). That means buttermilk clam biscuits, lobster rolls with brown butter and ginger-scallion oil, and blueberry pie for dessert. 508-675-0131; revolutionlobster.com the Atlantic, with a 1½-mile paved walking path along the water and views of the Elizabeth Islands.

OPPOSITE : Westport’s Horseneck Beach, part of an 800-acre state reservation, boasts a twomile stretch of sand on Rhode Island Sound that’s ideal for sunning and swimming.

The fog descends, but I’ve gotten good tips from a park ranger, who points me to tiny Gooseberry Island, where parking is free but limited (as are crowds). Beaches, both sandy and stony, ring the island—dogs are OK!

Perhaps the best tip is Demarest Lloyd State Park, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts—I feel like an insider when I pull into the parking lot on a sweltering day to see just 11 other cars. By now, I’ve driven past countless silos, farm stands, white farm fences, stone walls, and fields. There’s a loooong entrance to the state park, with an admonition to go slow (I don’t pass another car). A slender sandy path to the beach winds by beach roses, it’s high tide, and I swear there are fewer people on the beach than there are cars. How is that even possible?

It doesn’t matter. The water is perfect.

There’s so much more to say. About Gray’s Grist Mill, right on the Massachusetts line, one of the oldest in the country (before 1700), where I watch George Whitley stone-grind local white flint corn into mealy fairy dust that transforms into crispy johnnycakes just across the bridge at a restaurant called the Barn. “How do I get jobs like this?” the miller says, grinning. “Just lucky, I guess.”

Or the beauty of Westport Point Historic District, a fishing village that calls to mind Nantucket’s ’Sconset: little and big houses from the 1700s, slathered in silver shingles, marching down to the water. It’s a true work- ing harbor, with boats like Constant Cravin bobbing in the water beyond Revolution Lobster, where the line of customers is better than all the advertising in the world. Lobster rolls, chowder, stuffies, and the day’s special, a yellowfin tuna salad sandwich. Our yellowfin tuna was caught by Alex on the F/V Perseverance (the boat docked right behind you!) reads a sign at the takeout counter. Boat to mouth—it doesn’t get more personal.

Then there’s Padanaram, a village in the town of Dartmouth, at the end of the Farm Coast in Massachusetts. At the convivial Farm & Coast Market, I taste the region in Eva’s wild greens salad: a bit of farm (greens), a bit of coast (salmon). In a tucked-away spot by the water, homes are draped with fishing nets, a roof strewn with lobster traps, and buoys dangle like oversize earrings against red-painted wood. The harbor is chockablock with boats and masts….

And A Word About Sleep

Sun, sea, scenery … sleep. It’s hard to imagine a prettier place to spend the night than Schoolhouse No. 1, after hobnobbing with artists, taking a salty dip, and huddling over tapas at the Red Dory, downing curls of grilled octopus. Kristin and Adam Silveira have restored the exterior of their Tiverton one-room schoolhouse, built in 1800, with textbook rigor, topped off with a belfry and a 100-year-old school bell. Guests can even ring it, within reason (the sound travels up to three miles). But there’s nothing academic about the interior of this two-bedroom vacation rental—gourmet kitchen, luscious colors— unless you count the antiques. Vintage books for boning up on ancient geography, an eight-day schoolhouse clock. School nostalgia , in other words—possibly the best kind of learnin’ for the vacation-minded.

Farming For The Future

The next day, I’m searching for a farmer. More than one person has told me to track down Lucien Lebreux, a local legend. When I finally stumble across Middle Acres Farm, somewhere in Middle-earth (OK, it feels mythical, but it’s actually in Tiverton), it’s the real deal: a worn sign with a cow disappearing into a weather-beaten background, set against red barn shingles that have seen younger days. But the fresh green fields behind, sparkling white fences, and twin silos aiming for the sky are all signs of a flourishing farm, one held to high standards. The resident border collie, Molly, is desperately trying to herd a golf cart that’s zipping between outbuildings, driven by Lucien’s nephew.

John “Rebel” Brown, from Georgia, is a volunteer here; his trailer sits near a greenhouse bulging with tomato plants. “Anything I can do to help out Lucien, I’m a happy camper,” he says. In true Yankee fashion, Lucien, now 88, reinvented himself in 1997, when the dairy business soured. Lucien built cranberry bogs in his fields and became a cranberry farmer.

Since then, Lucien has guaranteed that his land— several hundred acres—will only ever be sold in one piece, as a farm. Why? The slender old farmer twinkles, but there’s steel in his words, too. “To see it not be a farm?” he asks, a trace of French-Canadian accent flavoring his words. “I worked too damn hard. I worked my whole life….”

It is a different world from the one conjured up by the news I heard of a casino being built on the outskirts of Tiverton. (The casino and hotel are slated to open October 1 of this year.) But the farmland goes on, pressing up against the sea. It is a breathtaking synthesis of agriculture, seascape, and artistry. Broad fields, basking in sunlight, bounded by water.

This Farm Coast is real.

To see more photographs from our visit to the Farm Coast, go to newengland.com/farm-coast-2018.